1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a support device for supporting a computer peripheral equipment and particularly to a support device that has a base and a moving member with adjustable relative positions and an included angle to match display devices of different thickness and shape, or to be mounted upright on an operation surface.
2. Related Art
With the increasing popularity of broadband networks, the application scope of computer peripheral equipments also expands constantly. Nowadays, video and audio files can be directly transmitted on the network. Hence the demand for networked video application increases significantly. The main equipment for this application is a web camera (abbreviated Webcam hereinafter).
To create an adjustable and stable platform, the Webcam usually has a supporting device or base for resting on a flat surface to fix the direction and elevation angle of the video camera. In the past, the supporting place generally was a desktop and a CRT screen. As the CRT screen is gradually replaced by the flat panel display that is thinner, such as the LCD display device or plasma display device, and the portable notebook computer also has become very popular, the Webcam, besides being rested horizontally on the desktop and CRT screen, also has to be attached to a side edge or top edge of the flat panel display or notebook computer display device. Therefore, a video camera supporting device that provides a clamping function is required to clamp the video camera on a desired location. Hence the video camera supporting device has to provide horizontal mounting and clamping functions.
On the clamping requirement, as the thickness of the display device of the desktop computer and notebook computer varies greatly, and the shape also is different, the Webcam supporting device also encounters different problems. The display device of the notebook computer generally has a smaller thickness and is formed in a rectangular board. The front side and rear side of the display device are substantially parallel. On the other hand, the display device of the desktop computer does not have weight and size restrictions, and generally has a greater thickness than the notebook computer, and the backside often is formed in a curved shape to create a greater interior space to facilitate heat dissipation. The conventional supporting device generally has two types: one type has two clamping arms pivotally coupled on two opposite sides, and another type has two arms movable linearly on the two opposite sides. For instance, R.O.C. patent publication Nos. 372081 and M243870 disclose a supporting device that has two arms pivotally coupled to form a holding space to clamp the edge of a flat panel display. The included angle of the two clamping arms may be altered to adjust the clamping thickness to mate the flat panel display of different thickness. However, when the included angle is extended larger to clamp the flat panel display of a greater thickness, the clamping arms are in contact with the side angle of the flat panel display, the clamping arms easily slip away. If the backside of the display device is formed in a curved shape, slipping of the clamping arms also easily occurs. If the supporting device is placed on the top of a CRT display device, it also easily slips away due to insufficient friction force.
USD470522 and R.O.C. patent publication No. 423628 disclose a supporting device with two clamping arms coupled by an elastic element so that the two clamping arms may be moved relative to each other to form a clamping effect. But their included angle cannot be adjusted. And they are designed in a parallel manner. Thus they are adaptable only to the flat panel display that has the front side in parallel with the backside, such as the display device of the notebook computer. As the backside of the desktop computer often adopts a curved surface or irregular shape, the clamping arms on the backside of the display device often form a point contact with the flat panel display. The clamping is unstable, and slipping easily occurs. When the display device has a greater thickness, no clamping effect is produced. When used on the CRT display device, the supporting device can only be mounted onto the top of the display device without any anchoring effect.